Theoretical Framework: Philosophy of Teaching

Matthew T. Heaston

How I Believe That Students Learn

From the vast amount of information covered through my course of study in education, there existed
many viable educational theories from which I have come to refer to for guidance as a first year teacher.
At this point in my professional development as a teacher, I would have to say that my budding
philosophy encompasses parts of three of the educational theories. My philosophy includes elements of
behaviorism derived from B.F. Skinner, ideas from individual constructivist Jean Piaget, and the social
constructivist views of Lev Vygotsky.

Within B.F. Skinners theory of behaviorism, I am an advocate of what our text describes as
instrumental conditioning. I certainly believe that it is an important idea to relate to them that there
are consequences, good or bad, for their behaviors especially since students are future democratic
citizens. Positive behaviors should be reinforced or rewarded, and negative behaviors should be
identified and punished if necessary. I think the theory works well in motivating student behaviors to
be academically productive, and continuing engaged learners in the classroom.

From Jean Piagets research and theory of childrens cognitive development, I am a firm believer of two
of its aspects. I believe that children learn best through assimilation and accommodation. In general,
students are more likely to retain newly learned information if they are able to relate something to it
that they already know. I also prescribe to Piagets idea of equilibration due to the challenging nature of

the process. I think it is imperative that we continually attempt to stretch the mental capabilities of
students of varying intellectual levels.

Lev Vygotskys educational theory of social constructionism has many aspects to it that I concur with
regarding how students learn. I believe most fervently with his idea that challenging tasks promote the
student mind to its fullest potential. His concept of the zone of proximal development is great way to
initiate and monitor student progress. With the idea of ZPD, I also agree with Vygotskys assumption
that students worldly interpretations are greatly influenced by adults.

How This Will Affect My Teaching

Due to my influence from Skinners behaviorist theory, I will clearly define classroom behaviors
and expectations to the students and make the consequences for negative behaviors known.
This would also go for academic performance as well. I would integrate this method into group
projects and foster team/individual competitions as well. For example, I would turn a fact-filled
history lesson into a Jeopardy game and use the competitive nature of it to add fun and
challenge to their learning. I believe that such positive reinforcement is vital to the motivation
of the students to learn and retain new information.

As far as consistently influencing my day-to-day teaching, I think that Piagets and Vygotskys
theories will have more of an influence overall than the behaviorist methods. This is due to the
fact that there are a variety of ways that students learn. Piagets child-centered approach will
be constantly evident as my main avenue of relating new material to students through the

process of assimilation. I will get into their minds and get a grasp what they already know in
order to do this in the most effective way possible. In addition to this, I believe that I can
challenge the more gifted students with Piagets equilibration. It will keep the more advanced
children interested in the subject matter, and will avoid them from becoming complacent.

I just described how I would take care of the students that have self-efficacy; however, more
often than not, they are the minority of the student population. Thus, I will regularly
incorporate cooperative learning into the curriculum. This will allow me to walk students
through difficult material, much like how Vygotskys idea of ZPD illustrates. In addition, this will
put students in the position to learn from their peers. This is especially effective if you
consciously pair weak students with stronger students for tasks. In addition, I believe that such
socialization is beneficial to students in shaping them to become good democratic citizens.